Ahmed Bilal Husain (2010-2016, MSc), Maj Gen. The last four chairmen of Suparco, together with their educational qualifications, are listed as Maj Gen. One of the two “was indigenously designed and solely developed by Suparco, and is primarily aimed at remote sensing”.Īs a space-filler this pathetic website speaks in hushed terms about the Hatf and Shaheen-III missile programmes but falls short of saying what Suparco’s role was, if any. The most recent activity listed is of July 9, 2018, when China launched two remote sensing satellites for Pakistan to monitor progress on CPEC. Born a year before its Indian counterpart ISRO, Suparco lists its earliest achievement as the periodic launches of US-supplied weather monitoring Rehbar rockets between 19. The official website of the National Space Agency of Pakistan (Suparco) is silent on space exploration plans. Today’s situation for science - every kind except agriculture and biotechnology - is dire. They could be closed down today and no one would notice. As if to compensate the loss of appetite for science, buildings for half-a-dozen science institutions were erected along Islamabad’s Constitution Avenue. A further setback happened in the Ziaul Haq days when Sir Syed Ahmad Khan’s modernism had its remaining flesh eaten off by Allama Iqbal’s shaheen. Will Pakistan also get a slice of the moon? That depends upon the quality of our scientists and if a culture of science develops. As long as Nehru stood tall no rishi, yogi, or army general could head a science institution Earlier, vigorous reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) had shown the path. Still, his insistence on ‘scientific temper’ - a singularly odd phrase invented while he was still in prison - made India nurture science. For this Hindutva hates him even more than it hates India’s Muslims and Christians. The atheistic Nehru brought to India an acceptance of European modernity. Instead of devising Chandrayaan, Indian scientists would be searching for the fictitious Vimana of Ravana.Īiming for a culture of science will serve Pakistan better than trying to match India’s new moon shot. The cure for cancer would be sought in yoga while floods and earthquakes would somehow be linked to cow slaughter. Its university departments would have many ganitagayons but few mathematicians, an army of rishis would outnumber physicists.
Instead of astronomy, today’s India would be pursuing astrology. Just imagine if history could be wound back by 70-80 years and prime-minister Jawaharlal Nehru was replaced by Narendra Modi. But rightfully the credit goes elsewhere. It is natural that India’s Hindutva government should boast Chandrayaan-2 as its own achievement and claim continuation with imagined glories from Vedic times. What gave India this enormous lead over Pakistan?
Pakistanis naturally want to know where they stand in science - of which space exploration is just a small part - and why. It puts India firmly within a select group of countries prowling the solar system for commercial, strategic, and scientific reasons. MONDAY’S launch of the Chandrayaan-2 water-finding moon mission is a significant demonstration of India’s scientific and engineering capacity.
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